Castro Valley is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

(CDP) in

Alameda County, California Alameda County ( ) is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and List ...

, United States. At the 2020 census, it was the fourth most populous

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in California. The population was 66,441 at the 2020 census. Castro Valley is named after Guillermo Castro, a noted 19th-century

Californio Californios (singular Californio) are Californians of Spaniards, Spanish descent, especially those descended from settlers of the 17th through 19th centuries before California was annexed by the United States. California's Spanish language in C ...

ranchero who owned the land where the community is located.

History

Before the arrival of European settlers the area was settled by the '' Chocheño'' (also spelled ''Chochenyo'' or ''Chocenyo'') subdivision of the

Ohlone The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the l ...

Native Americans. With the arrival of Europeans, they established Mission San Jose in 1797. The area Castro Valley now occupies was part of the extensive colony of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

in what was the province of

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

. Castro Valley was part of the original 28,000 acre (110 km) land grant given to Castro in 1840, called Rancho San Lorenzo. This land grant included Hayward, San Lorenzo, and Castro Valley, including Crow Canyon, Cull Canyon, and Palomares Canyons. Castro had a gambling habit and had to sell off portions of his land to pay gambling debts. The last of his holding was sold in a sheriff's sale in 1864 to Faxon Atherton for $400,000.Gudde, Erwin Gustav. "California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names" University of California Press 2004. 495 pp. Atherton (after whom the city of Atherton is named) in turn began selling off his portion in smaller parcels. Two men named Cull (the namesake of Cull Canyon) and Luce bought some 2,400 acres (10 km) and began running a steam-operated saw mill in Redwood Canyon. The Jensen brothers also bought land from Atherton in 1867. In 1866, Redwood school was built, the first public school in the area. Many Portuguese families immigrated to the surrounding canyons (especially Palomares Canyon) and farmed large amounts of land, where their descendants remain today. In the 1870s, Lake Chabot, a reservoir and popular park, was built by Chinese laborers living at Camp Yema-Po. During the 1940s and 1950s, Castro Valley was known for its chicken ranches. Later it developed into a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

, where workers live and commute to their jobs in the surrounding communities.Lorge, L, Phelps, R, Weston, D. "Castro Valley" Arcadia Publishing, 2005. 128 pp.

Geography

Lake Chabot lies in the northwest part of Castro Valley. Directly to the west is

San Leandro San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the south ...

. Hayward is to the south.

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Pleasanton, and San Ramon are to the east. The eastern hills of Castro Valley constitute the headwaters of the San Lorenzo Creek watershed and the origin of several creeks that flow into San Lorenzo Creek: Bolinas, Castro Valley, Chabot, Crow, Cull, Eden, Hollis, Kelly Canyon, Norris, and Palomares Creeks.

Demographics

The 2020 United States Census reported that Castro Valley had a population of 66,441. The population density was . The racial makeup of Castro Valley was 40.3%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 6.4%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.9% Native American, 30.8% Asian, 0.5%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 8.0% from other races, and 13.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 19.3% of the population. The Census reported that 98.9% of the population lived in households, 0.3% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.8% were institutionalized. There were 23,218 households, out of which 35.4% included children under the age of 18, 56.1% were married-couple households, 5.9% were

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...

couple households, 23.6% had a female householder with no partner present, and 14.4% had a male householder with no partner present. 19.2% of households were one person, and 9.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.83. There were 17,369

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(74.8% of all households). The age distribution was 21.5% under the age of 18, 7.5% aged 18 to 24, 26.3% aged 25 to 44, 27.8% aged 45 to 64, and 16.9% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 40.9years. For every 100 females, there were 94.5 males. There were 23,941 housing units at an average density of , of which 23,218 (97.0%) were occupied. Of these, 67.2% were owner-occupied, and 32.8% were occupied by renters. In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 30.8% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 58.5% spoke only English at home, 9.5% spoke

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, 5.9% spoke other

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

, 22.9% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 3.2% spoke other languages. Rowellrodeoparksign

Economy

The economy of Castro Valley consists largely of the provision of goods and services for local residents. Being a primarily residential community, only about 5% of the area has been developed for commercial uses. The greatest number of people (6,683) are employed by the health care and social assistance industry, followed by the retail trade industry with 1,073 employees and accommodation and food service with 1,044 employees. The health care and social assistance industry provided $1.1 billion in sales, shipments, receipts or revenue in 2012, which is the highest of all industries, and it is followed by the retail trade industry, which had a value of $324.1 million in sales, shipments, receipts or revenue. The median household income of residents was $138,069 in 2023, compared to a median income of $126,240 for all of Alameda County. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

was $58,843, compared to $63,442 in all of Alameda County. The poverty rate was 7.5%, compared to 9.2% in all of Alameda County.

Art and culture

Castro Valley is one of the sites where

Joseph Eichler Joseph Leopold Eichler (June 25, 1900 – July 1, 1974) was a 20th-century post-war American real estate developer known for developing distinctive residential Subdivision (land), subdivisions of mid-century modern style tract housing in Califo ...

built some of the 10,000 or so homes he built in the Bay Area. Castro Valley has a one-screen movie theater, the Chabot Cinema. The Castro Village complex on Castro Valley Boulevard is widely considered the commercial center of town. The Harry Rowell Rodeo Ranch is located in Castro Valley and is managed by the

Hayward Area Recreation and Park District The Hayward Area Recreation and Park District (H.A.R.D.) is the Park district, park management agency for most of the parks in the city of Hayward, California. It was created in 1944 and is an Special-purpose district, independent special distr ...

. Rodeos are held there regularly.

Historical landmarks and museums

First public school in Castro Valley

The first public school in Castro Valley is a designated

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

. A plaque is placed at the original site. The one-room schoolhouse was donated for "educational purposes only," by Josiah Grover Brickell in 1866. Brickell provided the salary for the first teacher. During the day the teacher taught children and in the evening they taught farmhands. The school burned down in 1901. It was rebuilt and burned down again in 1920. A new school was built on another property.

Adobe Art Gallery

The Adobe Art Gallery is a program operated by the

promoting the visual arts and uses the Adobe building, built as a

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; from 1935 to 1939, then known as the Work Projects Administration from 1939 to 1943) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to car ...

project in 1936.

Law and government

Castro Valley is an unincorporated community and thus is governed directly by the County of Alameda. There is no city police force, with policing provided by the

Alameda County Sheriff's Office The Alameda County Sheriff's Office (ACSO) is a law enforcement agency serving Alameda County, California. ACSO is accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), the American Correctional Association (AC ...

and the

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is the principal state police agency for the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary jurisdiction, including patrol and Criminal investigation, investigations, over all California Controlled-access highw ...

. Most of the community has fire protection provided by the Alameda County Fire Department, while the Five Canyons neighborhood has fire protection provided by the Fairview Fire Protection District. Castro Valley Sanitary District provides refuse and sewer collection services for the majority of the community, with wastewater processed at the Oro Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant in San Lorenzo. Efforts to incorporate Castro Valley have been voted down by its residents at the polls in both 1956 and 2002. In lieu of a city council, Castro Valley is represented by a seven-member Municipal Advisory Council, which is an advisory body appointed to advise the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on local issues.

Education

According to the 2019–2023 American Community Survey, educational attainment for Castro Valley residents at least 25 years old is 90.4% high school graduate and 43.9% bachelor's degree.

Public schools

Castro Valley is primarily served by the Castro Valley Unified School District, though portions of it are served by the Hayward Unified School District (South of I-580 and West of Grove Way) and the

San Lorenzo Unified School District San Lorenzo Unified School District is a school district in Alameda County, California, serving the CDP of San Lorenzo and portions of the cities of Hayward and San Leandro and the CDPs of Ashland, Castro Valley and Cherryland. It was esta ...

(westernmost part). Overall, the Castro Valley Unified School District serves more than 9,000 students. The main high school is Castro Valley High School with over 2,700 students. Castro Valley also has Redwood High School, an alternative high school with approximately 118 students in 2023. * Castro Valley has two public middle schools: Canyon Middle School and Creekside Middle School. * Castro Valley has nine public elementary schools: Castro Valley, Chabot, Independent, Jensen Ranch, Marshall, Palomares, Proctor, Stanton, and Vannoy. The school district includes the Castro Valley Adult School.

Private schools

There is also a Roman Catholic school, called Our Lady of Grace (K–8), which is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Oakland. Redwood Christian Schools has one elementary school (K–5) Redwood Christian Elementary.

Transportation

Interstate 580, which approaches from the east, makes a turn northward at Castro Valley. Interstate 238, which originates in Castro Valley, connects I-580 to Interstate 880. In addition to being served by those two freeways, Castro Valley is served with public transportation by bus system

AC Transit AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...

, and rapid transit system

BART Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...

with a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

. The primary local east–west arterial road is Castro Valley Boulevard, while Lake Chabot Road, Redwood Road and Crow Canyon Road are the major north–south arterials. Historically, Castro Valley Boulevard was part of the first transcontinental highway system, the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...

. Through BART, Castro Valley has links to all three of the San Francisco Bay Area's major commercial airports, though the closest by distance is

Oakland International Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States. The airport is located south of downtown Oakland and east of San Francisco, serving the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The airport is ...

Services

Eden Medical Center operates in Castro Valley. It is a

Sutter Health Sutter Health is a not-for-profit integrated health delivery system headquartered in Sacramento, California. It operates 24 acute care hospitals and over 200 clinics in Northern California. Sutter Hospital Association was founded in 1921 as a ...

facility, and provides basic

emergency medical services Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services, pre-hospital care or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to d ...

for the area. Castro Valley Sanitary District runs wastewater treatment facilities, and was selected as California's best small wastewater system in 2002 and 2018.

Notable people

* Christopher Andersen, journalist, former editor of ''Time'' and ''People'' magazines, No. 1 ''New York Times'' bestselling author * Mac Barnett, author * Amy Berg, television writer and producer * David Bingham, soccer player *

Mike Bordin Michael Andrew Bordin (born November 27, 1962) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Faith No More. He has amicably been known as "Puffy", "Puffster" or "The Puff", in reference to the afro hair style he wore in ...

, co-founder and drummer of Faith No More, as well as drummer for

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

Korn Korn (stylized as KoЯn) is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James Shaffer, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald Arvizu, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band ...

and

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...

, attended Castro Valley High School *

Lilan Bowden Alice Lilan Bowden (born September 1, 1985) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Rebecca "Bex" Mack in ''Andi Mack'' and Amber Kang in the Netflix series ''Murderville''. Biography She attended Castro Valley High School wh ...

, actress, comedian, and filmmaker. * Brodie Brazil, Emmy Award-winning reporter for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area/ Comcast SportsNet California and

San Jose Sharks The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California. The Sharks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Con ...

sideline reporter * Darren Brazil, editor for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area *

Cliff Burton Clifford Lee Burton (February 10, 1962 – September 27, 1986) was an American musician who served as the bassist for the thrash metal band Metallica from 1982 until his death in 1986. He is renowned for his musicianship and influence. Burton ...

(deceased), former bassist of

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

, attended Castro Valley High School * Jason Castro, Major League Baseball catcher for the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

, born in Castro Valley * Frank Cepollina, engineer * Sarah Clatterbuck, computer engineer. * Tim Davis, football coach *

Jack Del Rio Jack Louis Del Rio Jr. (born April 4, 1963) is an American professional football coach and former linebacker who is the head coach of the Paris Musketeers of the European League of Football (ELF). He played college football for the USC Trojans ...

, former head coach of NFL's

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

, born in Castro Valley * Val Diamond of Beach Blanket Babylon *

Garret Dillahunt Garret Lee Dillahunt (born November 24, 1964) is an American actor. He is best known for his work in television, including the roles Burt Chance on the Fox sitcom '' Raising Hope'', for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television ...

, actor, ''

No Country For Old Men ''No Country for Old Men'' is a 2007 American neo-Western crime thriller film written, directed, produced and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, and Josh Brolin ...

'', born in Castro Valley *

Craig Ferguson Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-American actor, comedian, writer and television host. He is best known for having hosted the CBS late-night talk show ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' (2005–2014). He is the winner of ...

, Canadian ice hockey player * Gregg Field, musician and producer *

Kyle Gass Kyle Richard Gass (born July 14, 1960) is an American musician and actor, best known for being a member of Tenacious D, a Grammy-winning comedy band. He is also a member of Trainwreck and the Kyle Gass Band. Early life Kyle Richard Gass was ...

, musician, actor * Mary Hayashi, Former California State Assembly Member *

Dean Heller Dean Arthur Heller (born May 10, 1960) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States senator representing Nevada from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 15th secretary of state of Nevada ...

, former U.S. Senator *

Sebastian Janikowski Sebastian Paweł Janikowski (; born March 2, 1978) is a Polish former professional player of American football who was a placekicker for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Oakland Raiders. He played college fo ...

, Polish-born football placekicker for

, current resident * Brian Keyser, Major League Baseball player * Kris LaPoint, professional water skier * Nick Lima, professional soccer player, born in Castro Valley * Luenell, actress and comedian * Kevin Maas, Major League Baseball player *

Rachel Maddow Rachel Anne Maddow ( ; born April 1, 1973) is an American television news program host and liberal political commentator. She hosts '' The Rachel Maddow Show'', a weekly television show on MSNBC, and serves as the cable network's special event ...

, anchor and political analyst on MSNBC's '' The Rachel Maddow Show'' and '' The Rachel Maddow Show'' on

Air America Radio Air America (formerly Air America Radio and Air America Media) was an American radio network specializing in progressive talk radio. It was on the air from March 2004 to January 2010. The network was founded as a left–wing alternative to coun ...

. * "Big" Jim Martin, former guitar player for

Faith No More Faith No More is an American Rock music, rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before September 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/rhythm guitarist ...

Alec Nevala-Lee Alec Nevala-Lee (born May 31, 1980) is an American biographer, novelist, critic, and science fiction writer. He was a Hugo and Locus Award finalist for the group biography ''Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron ...

, novelist and science-fiction writer * Miranda Nild, soccer player for Thailand women's national team; born in Castro Valley * Psyclon Nine, aggrotech and

industrial metal Industrial metal is the fusion of Heavy metal music, heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating Heavy metal guitar, metal guitar riffs, sampling (music), sampling, synthesizer or music sequencer, sequencer lines, and Distor ...

group * Ed Sprague Jr., Major League Baseball player, 2-time World Series champion; born in Castro Valley * Jim and Jennifer Stolpa, whose story was featured in the film '' Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story'' * Greg Tabor, Major League Baseball player *

Christopher Titus Christopher Titus (born October 1, 1964) is an American comedian, podcaster, and actor. He was the star, executive producer, and co-creator of the eponymous ''Titus'' sitcom on FOX from 2000 to 2002. His life experience with a dysfunctional fa ...

, comedian * Casey Wellman, professional ice hockey player

References

External links

*
Castro Valley Chamber of Commerce

Castro Valley News - Local News and Information

Castro Valley Matters - Local Advocacy Group

Castro Valley history

Castro Valley Unified School District

Friends of San Lorenzo Creek
{{Authority control Census-designated places in Alameda County, California Valleys of California Census-designated places in California Valleys of Alameda County, California